


Remembrance of A Bond

by JamaiicaSQ



Category: thealohafandom
Genre: Best Friends, Character Death, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Leukemia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 15:48:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19088152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamaiicaSQ/pseuds/JamaiicaSQ
Summary: Eighteen year old Lian Harpper is living out the rest of her days with her family and best friend since they were thirteen. Since she was sixteen, she has been diagnosed with leukemia and has gone under chemotherapy to treat it, but it doesn't work. So, Lian decided she was going to be happy.





	Remembrance of A Bond

**Author's Note:**

> This was a submission for a writers competition, soon an actual book.

The sun was beating down on anything its rays touched, the sand hot to the touch and creatures escaping to the shadows to cool down. In the water, dolphins chirped and clicked, whistling to each other. They took turns springing into the air above the water. Sea birds soaring in the air and watched below them. One dipping down to catch a fish that was close to the surface.

On the beach, two teenagers were busy playing a game. Tossing a small, hand-sized rubber ball at each other, hoping the other will catch it. One was a boy, who had raven hair and olive tanned skin. His brown eyes were bright with enjoyment. He was wearing a loose blue and white striped tank-top, and a pair of tan cargo shorts. A homemade thread bead bracelet was on his wrist, decorating it was a sandbar shark tooth.

The girl was wearing a white crop-top with a flowing knee-length skirt, a white tank-top and around her neck was a shark-tooth necklace. She, like the boy, ran in the sand with bare feet. Around her head, she wore a headscarf, hiding what was underneath.

“I’m throwing a far ball, Troy!” the girl called out, trotting backward. She threw the rubber ball at him, but he didn’t catch it. It soared past him while he tumbled backward into the sand. The boy—Troy, huffed and got up, brushing away the sand that had collected on his clothing. “Good throw, Lian!”

The girl smiled, “Thanks for the compliment, Troy. Maybe one day you’ll be good as me,” her tone was tantalizing. Troy laughed and grabbed the ball that was in the sand a few feet away from him.

“Kids’, sandwiches are ready!” a woman in her later thirties or early forties called out from the porch of the beach house. The two teenagers laughed and shoved each other while retreating to the hut. The woman from before smiled as she watched them, only the slightest frown at the tips of her lips. Lian and Troy finished shoving at each other and went inside, quickly sitting down and eating their sandwiches.

“Gracias, Mrs. Harpper, for the sandwich,” Troy said, though his mouth was still filled with the ham and cheese sandwich.

“Thank you, Troy—now, please finish eating before you talk,” the older woman chuckled. The boy listened and continue to eat away at the sandwich. Lian, unlike Troy, ate hers at a slower pace, occasionally stopped by small fits of coughing. During one of her fits, the headscarf had started to slip. Lian noticed and simply took it off. It revealed an almost bald head—only a few strands of hair in some places.

“Your father is due home any minute now, Lian,” Mrs. Harpper spoke up. She was filling the feed for the parrots, whose cage was in the corner.

“We’re still doing the campfire later, right?” Lian asked. Mrs. Harper laughed half-heartedly.

“Yes we’ll still have the fire, the rain from yesterday wasn’t enough to make the logs wet,” the older woman said. The two teenagers gave their announced excitement, Troy even shooting up and shouting his excitement.

“Troy, I’m just as excited as you, but we don’t want Emilio to cause a disturbance,” a man said from the door, a grin on his face. He was tall with a sunburned tan, his dirty blond hair in a man bun.

“Papa!” Lian ran over to him and wrapping him in a hug. He gave a throaty laugh but hugged her back.

Ollie, the family’s dog, skittered in through the door after the man. It’s white and black coat covered in wood shavings and grit.

“Ryan! Clean Ollie off before he comes inside, please! He’s going to make a mess,” Mrs. Harpper exclaimed. The man laughed.

“He can come run in the water with us?” Troy suggested.

“Alright, but Lian, you need to take your medication soon."

Lian had been a very sick child throughout her school years, missing a lot of days and constant trips to the clinic a few towns away. Doctors claimed it as ‘poor genetics’. It wasn’t until she was fifteen they did a blood test, that’s when they found out she actually had leukemia. It was a devastating discovery, but Lian wanted to keep everyone happy. She continued on with life like before, but with more medications and occasional chemotherapy. Over the time she’s gone through chemo, her skin got paler, she started to lose weight, and her hair started to fall out.

Her father—Ryan Harpper—was reluctant to put his only child on the medications and chemotherapy. He eventually put her up for it, hoping it could stop cancer from spreading. Ryan’s wishes weren’t heard, unfortunately. In recent months, their family doctor at the clinic broke the news to them that Lian wouldn’t live to be nineteen. It broke them, knowing their daughter would pass away before them.

Troy had been by Lian's side through those hard years. He was only half a year older than her, and they both turned out to be good friends. Best friends. Troy and Lian were a Romeo and Juliet type of relationship. They loved each other, but Lian was destined to pass away. Troy, however, promised he’d stay with her till she couldn’t anymore.

“When’re we having the campfire?” Lian asked.

“As soon as your mother gets the food ready,” Ryan replied, retreating to Nalani and his shared bedroom.

“I have everything ready so we can all head down to the beach,” Lian’s mom—Nalani Harpper—mused. She was in the kitchen again, grabbing different foods and drinks into the carrier bag that laid on the counter.

Troy and Lian were already heading for the door, Ollie in tow behind them. The border collie yapped away as it chased after the two young adults, happily jumping in the waves that crashed on the beach. Troy and Lian ran after the dog, laughing while splashing each other. Nalani and Ryan went to join them, sitting a bit away from the water and sat down. Nalani set her bag down beside her, Ryan tweaking the strings of his old ukulele. When the two teenagers were tired out they joined the adults by the now burning fire. The heat from the flames danced on their skin as their shadows stretched out on the sand. The sound of the wood crackling and crashing waves filled the air but was interrupted by a soft strum on the ukulele.

“Mahalo nui ia Ke Ali’i wahine. ‘O Lili’ulani ‘O ka Wo hi ku. Ka pipio mai o ke anuenuehi,” Ryan started to sing, strumming the ukulele’s strings.

“Na waiho’o lu’u a halikeole’e. E nana na maka i ke ao malama mai. Hawai’i akea I Kaua’i. ‘O Kalākaua he inoa. ‘O ka pua mae’ole i ka lā.” Ryan continued singing as Ollie bounded over, sitting at his feet.

“Ka pua maila i ka mauna. I ke kuahiwi ‘o Mauna Kea. Ke ‘ā maila i Kīlauea.” Troy joined, swaying slightly.

“Mālamalama i Wahinekapu. A ka luna o Uwēkahuna. I ka pali kapu o Kau’auea.” The two of them sang, their voices being carried on the wind. The gentle strumming of the ukulele mixed with their sound, creating a beautiful melody.

“Ea mai ke ali’i kia manu. Ua wehi ka hula o ka mamo. Ka pua nani a’o Hawai’i.” Lian’s soft voice braided into their melody as her eyes glittered joyfully. “‘O Kalākaua he inoa. ‘O Kalākaua he inoa. ‘O ka pua mau’ole i ka lā. Ka pua maila i ka mauna.”

“I ke kuahiwi ‘o Mauna Kea. Ke ‘ā maila i Kīlauea. Mālamalama i Wahinekapu. A ka luna o Uwēkahuna.” Nalani started to sing as the two teenagers started dancing around in the sand.

“I ka pali kapu o Ka’auea. Mahalo nui ‘ia ke Kuini. ‘O Lili’ulani Wo ka ‘o hi ku. Ea mai ke ali’i kia manu.” Ollie sprung up and started running around them, it’s tail wagging frantically.

“Ua wehi i ka hulu o ka mamo. Ka pua nani a’o Hawai’i. ‘O Kalakaua he inoa. He Inoa No Kalani Kalākaua Kulele.” The two collapsed back onto the sand in a fit of laughter, covering their clothes completely in sand.

Later on in the evening, when both Ryan and Nalani went inside for the night, Troy and Lian—with the company of Ollie—went to the field a bit away from the beach. It was farther away from the torchlight, making it easier for them to see the billions of stars in the sky above them. The sky was painted like a canvas, the dark sky was the once black canvas, while the stars and clouds decorated it. The moon was raised high in the sky, hanging over them and the ocean.

Lian’s eyes lit up from the joy of watching the stars. She had wanted to study the stars when she grew up, but it was a lost wish. Because she was so sick all the time, Troy brought her astronomy books to read—which she loved and thanked him for.

“First one to find a constellation wins!” Troy said suddenly. They laughed and began their search of looking for a constellation. They both spotted the Scorpius constellation, then Aquila, then Orion the Hunter. It continued for hours, looking at the stars.

During that time of star gazing, Troy started to feel distraught. He looked over at his best friend, examining her. Her body was thinner, loss of hair, needing a breathing tube to make sure she didn’t pass away in her sleep not being able to breathe. The Hispanic boy sometimes wished she’d never gotten so sick, that she never had leukemia. To people who didn’t know Lian thought of her as weak, but Troy knew better. This was Lian at her strongest. She was fighting to make them smile, to make them happy.

“Troy,” Lian said. “I want you to remember this moment. I want you to make this a special memory, our special memory.”

They had gone back to her house not long after. They bid each other goodnight before Troy headed up farther along the road to get to his house. Lian’s father was already asleep when she came inside—having a tendency of falling asleep watching the news. She headed for her room, where she changed into her sleeping attire. Walking over to her window, she gazed out onto the empty street. The light of the moon washed over the rooftops and the long road, making everything seem monotone and stale. The only things moving were the branches and leaves on trees, the wind flowing through them. Lian sighed, closing her curtains and flipping off the lights of her room. She crawled into bed, the cool sheets sending goosebumps up her arms and legs, and stared at the ceiling. Her mother came in her room to help her with the breathing tubes, and kissed her forehead, bidding goodnight. Not long later, Lian fell into a sleep-filled world.

In only a matter of weeks, Lian’s health spiral downward. It wasn’t until August twelfth, two-thousand and eleven, at four-twenty two that Lian had passed away. Troy received a call that afternoon about Lian and immediately left to comfort his second family. Two weeks later, Lian’s funeral went as scheduled.

“We meet here today to honor and pay tribute to the life of Lian Hope Harpper, and to express our love and admiration for her.

“Also to try to bring some comfort to those of her family and friends who are here and have been deeply hurt by her sudden death.

“Lian wasn't a particularly religious person, so it's befitting that her funeral ceremony should reflect what she was, ...a gentle, ...kind, …loving person; devoted to her family and friends.

“It's only natural that we should be sad today, because, in a practical sense, Lian is no longer a part of our lives, ‘we must die, we know’ said a character in Shakespeare, ‘tis but the time and drawing days out that men stand upon’, and so we all come to ponder the life and death of a truly wonderful lady aged eighteen; with confused and mixed feelings.

“For we have a powerful sense of loss; combined with a recognition that; if death must come, its as well that its not unduly prolonged, we don't want to see someone we love suffer, so this sorrow; and our sense of the fitness of things; don't sit easily together, one purpose of our proceedings here today; is in some way to try to reconcile those feelings.

“Today is also a day for memories, today will be remembered for many reasons, but mainly I hope it will be remembered by you all; as a very special day, a special day in which you shared some time with others; in order to pay your last respects; and to say both mentally and physically; a sad and fond farewell to a wonderful man/lady, ...lady whom we were all so very privileged to have known,” the funeral service last three hours. Ryan held his wife close to him while she wept. The ones who were to come to the funeral were her parents, Troy and his family, and other relatives. Some were close friends of Lian and the family—like Mrs. Pine from across the street, who had known the family from when Nalani was young.

One song they played for her funeral was a beautiful song, and it was loved by Lian. By MercyMe, I Can Only Imagine. It seemed so dear to her family now. Lian loved singing it whenever she could.

“I can only imagine what it will be like. When I walk, by your side. I can only imagine what my eyes will see. When your face is before me. I can only imagine. I can only imagine....”

Troy kept his promise to Lian and painted the night sky from that night weeks before. He had it hung it Lian’s old bedroom, which was left untouched and nothing was moved. The family wanted to keep Lian apart of them, forever…


End file.
